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Skip straight to Revelation of the Daleks

A nasty one in my mind. Also pretty weird. This time in Doctor Who was always quite gritty, but that's not what I have the problem with. For example Revelation of the Daleks is an excellent story that's deeply unsettling. This story of Peter Davison vs. the Daleks though I just don't like.

The plot is set on Earth in 1984 and focusses on a group of mercenaries from Earth's future. They turn out to have not very good intentions though and are planning to free the creator of the Daleks known as Davros. There's been a virus developed that kills Daleks and Davros has to find a cure. On top of this Davros also wants to create new Daleks that obey him as well as cloning the Doctor to help take control of Earth and assinate the Doctor's own people.

There seems to be a lot of random killing in this episode e.g. the police shooting two people running from them right at the start of episode 1. This is just one instance and there are many other places where people are just gunned down. The plot itsself is quite weak - although the virus idea does work quite well. In my mind not very much happens in this story though and it moves along a a pretty slow pace. This is despite the myriad of plot strands within the story. The only few good parts come near the end, where Davros meets with a suprising fate. The script also partly relies on you having watched the last Dalek story which was 5 years previously - a pretty long gap.

Extra features include a commentary with Peter Davison, deleted scenes (but none of which provide any more insight really), photo gallery, trailer, interview with Janet Fielding (Tegan) and John Nathan Turner (Producer).

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Good DVD with a few special features to enjoy

What I am reviewing is the Doctor Who DVD "Resurrection of the Daleks"

Broadcast 8-15 Feb 1984

Ratio 4.3Mono or Dolby Digital soundRunning time 100 mins

Well it had to happen sooner or later, the current Doctor has to face his old enemies the Daleks.Peter Davison was nearing his end of his reign as the Doctor as were Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson as his two companions Tegan and Turlough. There had to be something about this new Dalek story that would keep people watching, mind you they were due a good welcome back to TV having not been seen since the Tom Baker story "Destiny of the Daleks" in 1979. It was decided to set the story in present day London with the TARDIS landing in the deserted docklands (this was in 1984) and the TARDIS forced to land there after being trapped in a time corridor.Davros, the creator of the Daleks was also set to return in this story as his character had been very popular of the years, but there had to be some difference in the storyline other than Davros commanding the Daleks. It set the scene for two fractions of Daleks looking for their leader and destroying anything in the way.There was also the time corridor to feature in this story, so people and Daleks could enter from the future and be sent to present day Earth.

This story was the last to feature Janet Fielding as Tegan. She was contracted to finish when Peter did but it did not seem right for them to leave at the same time but to get a new character in for the new sixth Doctor Colin Baker. Mark was set to leave in the next story that introduced Nicola Bryant playing Peri "Planet of Fire"

During filming of this story there was a huge amount of publicity in the news and people had to be kept off where filming was taking place.

Story :

The TARDIS is trapped in a time corridor and forced to land on present day Earth 1984. However the Doctor and companions are not the only ones to come through this. Two fractions of Daleks are looking for their leader Davros and will destroy anything that gets in their way. The Doctor must meet up with the rebel forces that have come through the corridor from the future to try and stop the Daleks before they reach the populated areas of London, and where is Davros while all this is happening ? and what do the Daleks want with him...

Special Features :

Commentary by Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Matthew Robinson :This gives you the option to listen to the commentary with the actors giving their own experiences of the filming of the story and input into this.

Resurrection of the Daleks on location :Director Matthew Robinson, producer John Nathan Turner, and writer/script editor Eric Saward go back to where the filming of this story was set and give their views and memories of it.Sadly producer John Nathan Turner died six weeks after recording this story, and on this DVD he gives his last interview.

Deleted scenes :A number of deleted and extended scenes from the story are here to look at.

Breakfast time features :This is from the BBC's early morning programme which had regular features on it.These are with John Nathan Turner and Janet Fielding discussing Tegan's character and Brian Hodgeson and Malcolm Clarke discuss how the music was used in this story.

BBC1 trailer :This is the original trailer from part one of this story.

Music only option :You can listen to the soundtrack from the whole story by using this feature.

5.1 sound mix :You can choose from the original mono soundtrack or the new Dolby digital mix which has been chosen for this DVD.

Photo Gallery :This shows you photos of the story from location shots, studio shots, cast and crew and model shots.

Production subtitles :This gives you the option of all of the production filming of this story and tells you what was going on at the time.

Tardis cam no 4 :This shows a brand new model sequence.

What I thought :

I remembered the publicity for this story well, especially as it was set in London 1984. I remember it being in the newspapers and the news on TV, so it was with great joy that I looked forward to seeing this story again.I always had liked Dalek stories in the past and nothing had changed. I thought that the location setting with London was a good move as everybody could identify it with England and where the series has started. Well it did start in Totters yard in London, but the Docklands was not that far away.

Watching this again a lot came flooding back to me and it was good to see this story again with London being the backdrop.This I felt was a strong performance all round with Peter Davisons departure along with Janet and Mark quickly approaching. This was Janets last story and I felt that she should have really have gone out another way as the departure for her character didn't really do Tegan justice, after all she had been in the show since Tom Bakers reign ended in 1981.

The Daleks and Davros was as I remembered them. It was good to see them again and to me it seemed quite recent. (I know it was a few years ago now though !)

With the special features it was good to hear Janet and Peter in the commentary and hearing about their characters in the show. It seems as though that they do have a good time doing these commentarys which you can tell by what they are saying.

The on location featurette was a good watch and taking you back to where the London scenes were filmed. It makes you wonder if they could do the same now in the Dockands !

The rest on here was not that much as some of the other DVD's but worth a look anyway. The trailer I actually remembered from 1984, but found it interesting to watch breakfast time.

So if you liked Peter Davisons doctor or the Daleks then this one is a good story to see. It may not have all the action of Genesis or Destiny of the Daleks but it's in London which is a bonus and has that modern approach to it.

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If this late Dalek serial were to be rated based on body count alone, it would be a damn fine episode. As it stands, Peter Davisons solitary clash with the Doctors most popular foes continues right where Terry Nation signed off with his disappointing swan song Destiny of the Daleks and forms the second entirely mediocre Dalek story of the 1980s, a trend that would only be broken with a final, surprising success in the Sylvester McCoy era, when Ben Aaronovitch made the wise decision of ignoring the stagnant continuity that was so tediously built up across these tales in the series twilight years (before it, too, was resurrected, of course).

With 1984s arbitrarily titled Resurrection of the Daleks, Eric Saward expands on the Daleks situation as Nation unceremoniously left it four years earlier, and once the customary layers of double-crossing are over and done with, the story only gets stupider. When we last caught up with the armour-plated mutants, they were frantically searching for their ancient creator Davros, an unshakeable presence in all Dalek episodes following his introduction in the excellent Genesis of the Daleks, which unfortunately refused to be his departure. After Tom Bakers Doctor succeeded in beating him a second time, the megalomaniac cyborg was sentenced to imprisonment in suspended animation  not execution of course, as that would prevent him from acquiring an inevitable means of escape at a later date and permitting the Doctor Who writers another desperate attempt to win back viewers with the ever-popular enemies.

The Daleks motive in Resurrection, under the leadership of the Supreme Dalek, is more confusing and irregular. They are now losing in their galactic war against the Movellans, who have unleashed a virus fatal only to Daleks, and desire to free Davros from his ninety-year imprisonment (time moves strangely in this series) in the hope that his scientific superiority will bring about a cure. While its good to see the Daleks retaining their independence this time round, after being reduced to lost children in their previous episode, this story is essentially a superfluous and pointless means to get them back on TV screens after an extended absence that  I presume  was due to a lack of worthwhile story ideas, though that didnt stop them here.

The action is once again based on contemporary Earth, 1984 in this case, though the ultimate reasoning behind this is just about the weakest and most desperate that the series ever put forward. A prison ship housing Davros comes under attack from an enemy vessel, while elsewhere the TARDIS is yanked down a time corridor and winds up near a warehouse in London, filled with strange blue canisters and swarming with British Army personnel. As it becomes clear that this is all another evil Dalek scheme, the Fifth Doctor begins to regret his predecessors decision not to wipe them out when he had the chance. He vows not to make the same mistake the next time he comes face-to-face with Davros, which is bound to happen sooner rather than later, as the thawed evil genius hatches a plot to duplicate the Doctors body and send his clone to the High Council of the Time Lords on a mission of assassination...

As may be clear from the brief synopsis, theres a lot going on in these four episodes, and the various plots and stages of duplicity frequently clash in a way that only winds up confusing. Like many episodes of the Eighties, theres also a strong sense that this was written more for up-to-speed fans than casual viewers interested in seeing a bit of Dalek, and while some touches are harmlessly sentimental, such as the Doctors brain scan that brings up visual parade of the roles previous actors and many of the Doctors companions, the background of the Movellan conflict from Destiny and in fact all of the revised Dalek mythology from Genesis are pretty much required foreknowledge if the Daleks plot is going to make any kind of sense. The Doctor himself is rather disappointing in this story, too swamped by ill-fated guest stars and pointless, trouble-making companions to get much time in the spotlight, and even the more pivotal and dramatic scenes in the final part lack the resonance of Tom Baker and his predecessors due to Davisons naturally less commanding presence. The Daleks themselves fare even worse, thankfully avoiding the stupid, hapless comedy touches that diminished their scare factor in Destiny (though one does get shoved out of a window, repeatedly chirping my vision is impaired, I cannot see), but retaining their irritating tendency to procrastinate with executions until a more dramatic moment arrives. Its hard to find them too threatening when they spend an age moving slowly forward to a victim yelling their catch-phrase exterminate! and appearing to be so shocked at the occurrence that they forget to actually fire their lasers. They at least get a scary musical theme though, which is quite cool.

Visual effects designer Peter Wragg (later of Red Dwarf) churns out some quite good looking battles and explosions with model spacecraft, but the rest of the effects are mediocre at best, and ludicrous at worst. While the simple tilting and shaking of a camera is a reasonable enough manner to express the effects of the time corridor on the TARDIS, the less said about the shaving foam spewed forth from infected Daleks, the better. Most distracting of all are the invisible laser blasts, which may be more in agreement with real-world physics than the garish blue beams of the Daleks, but even with a sound effect ripped straight from Galaxians it makes it very difficult to believe that these people are actually being shot, especially when the victims fall over, after a delay, in what can only be described as a pantomime fashion. The acting in this serial is as disappointing as the script, especially among the lower ranks of cannon fodder extras who completely fail to convince as prison ship officers, despite wearing nifty Thunderbirds-style hats (or perhaps this just makes it worse). Theres one notable guest star in the form of EastEnders Les Dirty Den Grantham, who plays Davros zombified mechanic with a suitable degree of cockney casuality, but the other prominent guest performer Rodney Bewes leaves much to be desired from his low-rent Ian Holm. Terry Molloy becomes the third actor to don the Davros mask and shout too much, and some poor extra has to pretend to be strangled by a slimy Dalek mutant prop twice.

Resurrection of the Daleks is just another disappointing Dalek story, satisfying the need for Peter Davisons Doctor to come up against them at least once. The plot is a mix of recycled and contradictory ideas, extending to the predictable cliffhanger endings to each of the four parts that invariably see a Dalek advance towards the Doctor yelling its battle cry  only to be conveniently thwarted within the first second of the next show, and when the eventual contrived revelations arrive, its best to allow the brain to switch off for a while. This story is probably most notable for its violence and high body count, as a huge number of extras are seen falling to Dalek rays and their face-mutilating gas attacks, which are actually pretty gruesome. Theres a fair degree of real danger as the Army threatens to shoot Tegan if she attempts to desert the warehouse, and however much this serial takes a dump on the Daleks, the red glow of their leaders den of evil looks pretty menacing on screen.

The main problem with this story is how seriously it sticks to the dull Dalek mythology that Terry Nation left behind, especially as by the end, nothing has really happened apart from a load of dead, insignificant bodies. Ultimately, this reason is enough for the Doctors companion Tegan (Janet Fielding) to call it a day, and her voiced reason for abandoning the Doctor and his adventures can easily be interpreted as the voice of the general public switching off in these declining years: it stopped being fun.

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I'm a big fan of Peter Davison and I love the Daleks, so the chance to combine them is always a great treat for me. When our copy of The Resurrection of the Daleks DVD arrived I was really looking forward to it. We always pre-order our DVDs from Blackstar and when one of their padded envelopes is delivered we know we have something good to watch that evening. I remember watching Resurrection on TV, but it had been a while ago so it was going to be nice to relive those memories again. If you don't want to read the plot outline, then it's now the time to make a cup of tea and rejoin in three paragraphs time. This story sees the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his current companions, Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) on contemporary Earth ~ contemporary at the time being 1984. They have been forced to land there after getting caught in Time Corridor; which we later learn has been created by the Daleks to free their creator (the thoroughly evil Davros). Davros has been imprisoned and held in cryogenic suspension for nearly 100 years, but the Daleks need him once again to help fight a virus that threatens their existence. Even the best laid plans of the Daleks are under threat when Davros seems to want to destroy his own creations. The Earth (the Docklands area of London to be precise) is linked with a prison ship in the distant future and the evil and killing that occurs has a far reaching effect on the crew of the TARDIS. Tegan discovers that she can no longer cope with life travelling in Time and Space ~ she needs stability and normality at last. The end of the episode sees an emotional farewell! The Doctor also has another chance to kill Davros and destroy the Daleks, but once again he doesn't take it! The story itself is slightly complicated ~ the Daleks fight amongst themselves, the Daleks fight Davros (and his own loyal Dalek army), and the Daleks fight the Doctor! Meanwhile the Doctor mu st foil Davros' plot to replace him with a replica to help destroy the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey (while the Daleks are using replicants to infiltrate key positions on Earth) ~ I told you in got complicated. Needless to say the Doctor succeeds, but not without letting Davros go free (to meet him again in future adventures). It works in a strange kind of way; I think I've explained it all, but I could have confused somewhere. Needless to say it isn't the best story ever, but it does see some good performances! Resurrection of the Daleks was originally broadcast from the 8th February to the 15th February 1984 on BBC 1. The DVD was released on 18th November 2002 by BBC Worldwide Publishing. The DVD has a special rubberised PVC cover on top of the usual DVD box ~ this is black and looks similar to the "bumps" on the casing of a Dalek. This cover is supposed to be limited edition and will hopefully add to the collectability of the disc in the future. The DVD has a good selection of Special Features that make it worth buying, but they aren?t quite as good as on some of the previous releases ~ it isn't in the same league as Tomb of The Cybermen! This isn't really the fault of the producers ~ it's a more recent title so they didn't have the scope for restoration and the documentaries that would result! The picture quality is still very crisp and the sound is good too; it still puts the video in the shade! There was some work that had to be done to clean up some of the noise from shooting on location and to clean up the picture on the DVD (the original footage IS almost 20 years old now), but I don't think there was quite so much to do. ~~~SPECIAL FEATURES. On to the DVD Features?.. @@@COMMENTARY@@@ This time the commentary comes from Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan) and Matthew Robinson (the Director). I quite enjoyed the commentary, but I am biased because I could listen to Peter Davison all day! It's also a rare treat to hear from Janet, who doesn't often go to conventions. The commentary is quite similar to the one on the Caves of Androzani ~ lots of enthusiasm and some good behind the scenes stories and anecdotes. Once again, though I would recommend that you watch the story first without the commentary, because you won't be able to follow the action with it switched on. @@@SOUND MIX@@@ By accessing the audio options menu you can choose whether you want to listen to the story in mono or a multi-channel soundtrack. I tried both and preferred the multi-channel ~ this really depends on your personal preferences, but I found the multi-channel to be more realistic and a lot crisper. @@@ON LOCATION@@@ This is by far the best Special Feature on this DVD! Yes, it's even better than my favourite beloved info-text! This contains the last ever interview with producer John Nathan-Turner before his untimely death. It is quite sad to see him because he is looking so frail, but it gives us the valuable chance to see him talking about the show that made up a large part of his life. This documentary type feature was filmed at the location of the original programme ~ Shad Thames in London. You will also see the writer (Eric Saward) and director (Matthew Robinson) as they retrace the steps they made when producing Resurrection. It's very interesting because they explain how and why they chose the setting, as well as giving us the chance to see how the area has changed today. @@@DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES@@@ This is another good feature because it shows some shots that are previously unseen. It's a good chance to find out what they thought worked and what wasn't good enough (or too long) to make the final edit. I always like to see bits of footage I haven't had chance to before, so this is very interesting to me. < br>@@@BREAKFAST TIME@@@ If you remember having to watch Breakfast time before school (there were no Big Breakfasts or Rise then!) then you will have a vague idea of what this feature is. These show two items that were shown on the breakfast show on BBC1 to publicise the series and the new Companions book that was published at the time ~ this was of particular interest to me because I'd just received MY copy of the book that I'd won in an auction on E-Bay (a coincidence!). We also found this quite funny because Janet Fielding's accent seems to lurch about very violently between Australian and Home Counties! @@@TRAILER@@@ There's only one trailer on this release ~ for the first episode of the adventure. I do remember it being on, but I don?t ever remember the continuity announcers sounding quite THAT posh! A good bit of nostalgia, but not something you'll watch every time you play the DVD. @@@PHOTO GALLERY@@@ These are again pretty much what it says on the tin! There are some nice photos on offer here ~ some good shots of Peter Davison (phwooorh!), some stills and publicity shots for the story. I may look at these more than once (for a quick perve at Peter), but your average punter will probably just take a look once and then never access them again. @@@MUSIC ONLY@@@ There is the option of listening the Malcolm Clarke's score with no other soundtrack. I found this surprisingly watchable and I didn't think that I would. The music score is very atmospheric ~ especially the scenes with the Daleks. @@@INFO-TEXT@@@ Excellent! Once again I am amazed by the facts and information that they have managed to come up with. We particularly like the info-text on Earth based adventures because of the location details, but all the things are interesting and extremely informative. The text appears either above or below the action (depending on what?s going on) and I don't find them distracting at all. @@@TARDIS CAM@@@ This time (in number 4 of the TARDIS Cam series) we see the TARIS on board a vessel under the sea (that's what it looks like anyway). Alun watched it and said "Oh, what was that all about then?" ~ that just about sums up the TARDIS Cam for us. The scenes are well produced but the credits last longer than the actual feature! @@@GRAPHICAL MENUS@@ Again these are well produced and give a user friendly and visually appealing way to navigate around the disc. They have used some pieces of footage from the series as the main basis for the menus, along with the Doctor Who logo and thumbnail images from the episodes, so you can see what part of the story you're going to. Very useful and very easy to use (apart from the bit where you choose whether you want text or subtitles on or off ~ we always end up highlighting the wrong bit!). @@@EASTER EGGS@@@ I have heard that there are 3 Easter Eggs on this DVD, but I must admit we have only found two so far. I won't give away how to access them, but one of them is well worth finding ~ the opening and closing sequences without any text or credits! I think that's the lot! A pretty good selection I have to admit. I would have been well satisfied if Tomb of the Cybermen, The Aztecs, etc hadn't spoiled me ~ there aren't the same documentaries on this one. The BBC has once again done us proud with the quality of the special features have been included. I would recommend this DVD to any Dr Who Fan and collector, but I don't think a non-fan would like this one so much. If you already have this on video I still think it's worth investing in ~ particularly as it is on offer at Amazon.co.uk at the moment for £15.99 instead of the usual £19.99! ~~~INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS. ? This is the last appearance of Janet Fielding as the Doctor's companion Tegan. When she leaves the Doctor has one companion left (Turlough) until they are joined by Peri (Nicola Bryant). ? This story was originally planned as a 4 part adventure (each part being 25 minutes long) but was aired as 2 episodes (45minutes in length). This DVD sees it restored to its original format. ? Faces you may recognise in Resurrection include Rula Lenska, Leslie Grantham (pre-Eastenders), Chloe Ashcroft (for anyone who used to watch Playschool) and Rodney Bewes (of Likely Lads fame). ~~~TECHNICAL INFO. Production Year ? 1984 Certification ? PG Run Time ? 98 minutes Release Date ? 18/11/2002 Code ? BBCDVD1100 Region ? 2 ~~~CAST AND CREW. Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Mark Strickson (Vizlor Turlough), Chloe Ashcroft (Professor Laird), Rodney Bewes (Stien), Maurice Colbourne (Lytton), Jim Findley (Mercer), Del Henney (Colonel Archer), Rula Lenska (Styles), Philip McGough (Sergeant Calder), Brian Miller (Dalek Voices), Royce Mills (Dalek Voices), Terry Molloy (Davros). Director: Matthew Robinson Producer: John Nathan Turner Writer: Eric Saward ~~~Useful websites include: http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/ http://www.gallifreyone.com/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/ http://www.shcarter.freeserve.co.uk/resurrection/6p1.htm - where you can see the locations that were used in this story.